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Advanced Ecological Research in Sustainable Land Use and Rural Development
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Advanced Ecological Research in Sustainable Land Use and Rural Development

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Resources and Sustainable Utilization".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2023) | Viewed by 9359

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Yaakov Anker

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemical Engineering and the Eastern R&D Center, Ariel University, Ariel 4070000, Israel
Interests: water geochemistry; hydrogeology; remote sensing; low impact development; environmental pollution prevention
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. David Ian Wilson

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of infrastructure engineering, University of Melbourne, Melbourne 3052, Australia
Interests: geography; sustainable infrastructure; transport planning and modelling; supply chain modelling
Prof. Dr. Ruishan Chen

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Design, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai 200240, China
Interests: remote sensing; urban and rural development; sustainability science; socio-ecological system
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are happy to announce a Sustainability Special Issue on Advanced Ecological Research in Sustainable Land Use and Rural Development. The constant increase in the global population and standards of living demands an ongoing increase in food production, which is currently achieved by the expansion of intensive agriculture. This trend causes a reduction in the natural rural landscape extent and diversity. Processes related to this land use shift increase emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and other gases that stimulate global warming. Other processes that are affiliated to this trend cause the destruction of water resources and the degradation of soil. Nonetheless, the negative feedback of intensified agriculture systems on natural ecological systems may be significantly reduced by the application of a low-impact management strategy. 

This Special Issue aims to highlight new trends and methodologies that enable the extension of food production while reducing the negative ecological impact of intensive agriculture.

The subjects within the scope of this issue consist of the new and better ecological management of intensified agriculture systems and other land uses and new crops and raw materials that can replace crops that demand more agriculture resources. New methodologies for the industrialization of agricultural products as cultured meat, substitiutes for energy crops and industrial wood are also in the scope of this issue. The Special Issue also welcomes papers related to the food–water–land nexus and issues related to urban–rural interaction and rural development.

The papers selected for publication in this Special Issue will present innovations and new trends that may enable a more sustainable and ecologically friendly means of food production and rural area development. The subjects may be of applied and fundamental research but should consider its future implementation and evaluation in ecological sustainability.

Dr. Yaakov Anker
Dr. David Ian Wilson
Prof. Dr. Ruishan Chen
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • water resources
  • nutrients
  • soil preservation
  • greenhouse gases (GHG)
  • land use

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

22 pages, 4042 KiB  
Article
Combining Markowitz Portfolio Model and Simplex Algorithm to Achieve Sustainable Land Management Objectives: Case Study of Rivadavia Banda Norte, Salta (Argentina)
by José Alex Gualotuña Parra, Omar Valverde-Arias, Ana M. Tarquis, Juan B. Grau Olivé, Federico Colombo Speroni and Antonio Saa-Requejo
Sustainability 2023, 15(14), 11050; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151411050 - 14 Jul 2023
Viewed by 1606
Abstract
Land use planning involves making an appropriate decision and selecting a use over other alternatives. A step-by-step methodology was developed to evaluate the optimal combination of regional land use technologies and the spatial allocation. For a realistic approach, a case study (specifically Rivadavia [...] Read more.
Land use planning involves making an appropriate decision and selecting a use over other alternatives. A step-by-step methodology was developed to evaluate the optimal combination of regional land use technologies and the spatial allocation. For a realistic approach, a case study (specifically Rivadavia department, Salta, Argentina) is considered, which has deforestation problems and the advance of intensive and extractive agriculture. Five management techniques are considered for the area: precision agriculture (T1), advance livestock farming (T2), payment for ecosystem service (T3), traditional agriculture–livestock farming—Criollo (T4), and traditional forest management—Wichi (T5). A land evaluation on a GIS model is carried out to obtain the land suitability for each technique. Analyzing local experts’ opinions using the Markowitz portfolio methodology allows us to obtain an optimal combination of techniques. Finally, a Simplex method analysis linked with the GIS is performed to allocate the five techniques over the territory maximizing land suitability and in compliance with percent surface assignments. The result assigns each GIS polygon to a specific technique, reaching optimal land suitability in 92% of the territory. Natural capital and social attributes had a significant and complex impact on technology choice, but objective and optimized approaches in their allocation were possible and provides valuable information to guide public policies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Ecological Research in Sustainable Land Use and Rural Development)
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15 pages, 3989 KiB  
Article
Designing Iowa Agricultural Landscapes to Improve Environmental Co-Benefits of Bioenergy Production
by Esther S. Parish, Douglas L. Karlen, Keith L. Kline, Kevin S. Comer and William W. Belden
Sustainability 2023, 15(13), 10051; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151310051 - 25 Jun 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1302
Abstract
Cellulosic bioenergy feedstocks are needed to improve carbon (C) management while provisioning biomass for bioproducts and biofuel. The transition to increased cellulosic biomass production can be guided by land management plans designed to improve economic, environmental, and ecological performance. We constructed a sustainability [...] Read more.
Cellulosic bioenergy feedstocks are needed to improve carbon (C) management while provisioning biomass for bioproducts and biofuel. The transition to increased cellulosic biomass production can be guided by land management plans designed to improve economic, environmental, and ecological performance. We constructed a sustainability model to compare landscape designs for biofuel production from corn (Zea mays L.) stover and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) in central Iowa, USA. We used the model to compare environmental and socioeconomic outcomes associated with four landscape management strategies, with and without cellulosic biomass markets. We evaluated (1) a fuelshed area containing over 1.2 million ha (3 million acres) of corn and soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) within 80 km (50 miles) of a commercial-scale cellulosic biorefinery in Nevada, Iowa, and (2) the South Fork watershed containing over 72,000 ha (178,000 acres) of these row crops within eight north central Iowa HUC-12 (hydrologic unit code) watersheds. At both landscape scales, we found that it is possible to achieve multiple environmental and socioeconomic benefits concomitantly with cellulosic biomass production by strategically collecting corn stover and converting the 10% of the lowest-profitability row crop land to perennial switchgrass. Potential benefits from landscape design include increased biodiversity, soil and water quality improvements, increased soil carbon sequestration for climate change mitigation, and reduced fertilizer use and cost. Our model results showed that increasing benefits can accrue when complementary conservation practices (e.g., reduced tillage, use of a rye cover crop) are combined and integrated throughout a fuelshed or watershed area. We conclude that ecologically based landscape designs offer valuable insights about costs and benefits of land management alternatives, with relevance for achieving stakeholder goals. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Ecological Research in Sustainable Land Use and Rural Development)
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28 pages, 8912 KiB  
Article
MODFLOW and HYDRUS Modeling of Groundwater Supply Prospect Assessment for Distant Pastures in the Aksu River Middle Reaches
by Vladimir Mirlas, Vitaly Kulagin, Aida Ismagulova and Yaakov Anker
Sustainability 2022, 14(24), 16783; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142416783 - 14 Dec 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2195
Abstract
As in many regions across the world, southeastern Kazakhstan is subjected to ongoing water-resource depletion. The livestock sector is already a major natural water resource consumer, with groundwater use becoming its water supply strategy. Remote pasture infrastructure development requires new water resources to [...] Read more.
As in many regions across the world, southeastern Kazakhstan is subjected to ongoing water-resource depletion. The livestock sector is already a major natural water resource consumer, with groundwater use becoming its water supply strategy. Remote pasture infrastructure development requires new water resources to allow pasture area circulation. The distant pastures in the middle reach of the Aksu River consist of three pastures, with a total area of 32,450 ha and a permissible number of 3245 livestock heads. The HYDRUS-1D water transport model and MODFLOW groundwater-flow model simulated complex water infrastructure prospect hydrogeological scenarios to allow the consumption of 302.4 m3 per day for livestock keeping on pasturelands. During pumping for livestock watering, projected production well drawdowns were quantitatively evaluated. The findings show that the projected pumping flow rate equals 288 m3/day during the water consumption season and 95 m3/day outside the water consumption season. While the production wells on pastures No. 2 and No. 3 can be considered reliable, on pasture No. 1, an additional production well is needed. To maintain the production wells’ drawdowns to less than 6 m, a projected pumping flow rate reduction to 216 m3/day and 70 m3/day, respectively, is required. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Ecological Research in Sustainable Land Use and Rural Development)
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23 pages, 9433 KiB  
Article
Field Experimental Study on the Infiltration and Clogging Processes at Aksu Research Site, Kazakhstan
by Vladimir Mirlas, Vitaly Kulagin, Aida Ismagulova and Yaakov Anker
Sustainability 2022, 14(23), 15645; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142315645 - 24 Nov 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1617
Abstract
The challenge of a good quality drinking water supply to southeastern Kazakhstan’s local population from far-away natural surface water sources motivates groundwater utilization from local aquifers. To prevent groundwater resource deficits, artificial groundwater recharge is needed. To this end, infiltration and clogging processes [...] Read more.
The challenge of a good quality drinking water supply to southeastern Kazakhstan’s local population from far-away natural surface water sources motivates groundwater utilization from local aquifers. To prevent groundwater resource deficits, artificial groundwater recharge is needed. To this end, infiltration and clogging processes were evaluated through comprehensive field research in southeastern Kazakhstan’s typical river drainage basin (Aksu experimental site). The infiltration scenario included constructed mini pools and their typical soil profile clogging and silting processes. The local aquifer unsaturated and upper saturated zones underwent a detailed study of water balance, hydrodynamic setting, and filtration properties. The research results suggest that the infiltration rate decreased from 15 m/day until the saturation steady state and remained at 0.75 m/day until the end of the experiment. In summer, clogging layers with thicknesses ranging from 3 mm for the clayey silt layer to 6 mm for muddy clay began to form at the mini pools nearly one month after the test began. During infiltration, the mini pools’ upper soil layer dirt-holding capacity varied from 3.72 to 5.25 kg/m2. The field study results serve as a factual basis for artificial replenishment system design and groundwater replenishment methodology optimization in southeastern Kazakhstan and similar regions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Ecological Research in Sustainable Land Use and Rural Development)
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18 pages, 5325 KiB  
Article
Spatiotemporal Response of Ecosystem Service Values to Land Use Change in Xiamen, China
by Tianhai Zhang, Yaqin Qu, Yang Liu, Guanfeng Yan and Greg Foliente
Sustainability 2022, 14(19), 12532; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141912532 - 1 Oct 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1696
Abstract
This research aims to identify the key indicators of land-use change that affect ecosystem service in the coastal city of Xiamen. The methods of transfer matrix and land-use dynamic degree are used to analyze land-use change, and the spatial distribution of ecosystem service [...] Read more.
This research aims to identify the key indicators of land-use change that affect ecosystem service in the coastal city of Xiamen. The methods of transfer matrix and land-use dynamic degree are used to analyze land-use change, and the spatial distribution of ecosystem service values (ESV) is mapped from 1989 to 2018 using cluster analysis. During this 30-year period, the built-up land expanded rapidly through occupation of farmland and landfilling of the watershed. The biggest contribution to the reduction of ESV in this stage is the loss of farmland followed by the loss of watershed. By 2018, the spatial distribution of ESV had become very unbalanced and polarized. The high-value areas are mainly distributed in the northern mountainous areas, with the low-value areas concentrated in the flat areas near the coastline, and only a few medium-value areas of ESV remained. Generally, from 1989 to 2018, the ESV in Xiamen decreased by about CNY 200 million in total, with the largest proportion of ESV reduction (CNY 120 million) occurring in the 2000–2010 period. Considering ESV categories, the significant reduction of Regulating Service (53.5–57.8%) was mainly due to the loss of water areas (CNY −70 million) to low ESV areas (built-up land) in urbanization, followed by the loss of farmland (CNY −50 million). This means that Xiamen should strengthen the protection of ecological lands in future urban planning to alleviate and reverse the current ecological imbalance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Ecological Research in Sustainable Land Use and Rural Development)
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